Newsroom managers top priority for new Springfield publisher

Friday

Nov 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 30, 2007 at 7:50 AM

One of the early priorities for the new publisher of The State Journal-Register will be to put a newsroom management team in place after three of the paper’s top executives announced their resignations this month.

Tim Landis

One of the early priorities for the new publisher of The State Journal-Register will be to put a newsroom management team in place after three of the paper’s top executives announced their resignations this month.

Scott Bowers, group controller for the GateHouse Media Inc. papers in Illinois, will officially succeed Sue Schmitt as State Journal-Register publisher on Dec. 18, but he told newspaper employees Friday he expects to spend much of the next two weeks in Springfield.

“This is the oldest newspaper in the state, and we want to continue that fine tradition,” said Bowers.

He said another of his early tasks will be to reassure the community about the future of the newspaper following the recent executive resignations and a voluntary severance program that has been offered to other employees.

New York-based GateHouse Media acquired The State Journal-Register, The Peoria Journal Star and the Galesburg Register-Mail from Copley Press Inc. early this year, and soon thereafter purchased the Rockford Register Star from Gannett Co.

GateHouse (stock symbol GHS) is one of the nation’s largest publishers of print and online media, including 86 daily publications.

In October, The State Journal-Register offered a voluntary severance program to about half of the paper’s 345 employees. The deadline for accepting the package is Monday.

On Nov. 20, Schmitt, editor Barry Locher and managing editor Robert Pope announced they would leave the paper Dec. 14. The announcement drew nationwide attention within the publishing industry.

GateHouse Media co-president and chief operating officer Scott Champion, who introduced Bowers to the newspaper staff Friday, said he understands the sudden resignations of Schmitt, Locher and Pope created negative perceptions in the community about their departure and the future of the newspaper.

“My feeling is, that starts to be addressed today,” said Champion.

Champion said Schmitt, Pope and Locher each accepted a buyout offer from Copley Press, but were prevented from discussing the package by a confidentiality agreement. The Copley offer was to expire at the end of this year, he said.

Each of the three said when they announced their resignations that their decisions were personal and professional and that they were not asked to resign.

“You hate to lose good people,” Champion said. “But we want to get a new management team in place and get things back to normal. People are going to see that the paper isn’t going away.”

Bowers pointed out to newsroom staff members that he is married to a reporter and considers himself an advocate for journalism.

He also said both the print and online editions of The State Journal-Register will continue to evolve.

“It’s a 24-hour-a-day operation, where we’re trying to leverage the Web and also put the news in print,” said Bowers.

He also said in a prepared statement he believes “rumors of the death of newspapers have been greatly exaggerated.”

“There will always be a place for this medium, and I believe it is the job of a publisher to take advantage of new technology to move the product into a niche that makes it useful, relevant and lively for readers and advertisers,” he said.

Schmitt said she has made no immediate plans once she leaves The State Journal-Register, but she welcomed Bowers as her successor.

“I think Scott is a really good fit for The State Journal-Register and for Springfield,” said Schmitt.

Schmitt said the number of employees who have accepted voluntary severance is not yet available. However, she said, it is clear that the early severance program, staff changes and other cost-cutting measures, while difficult, have improved the paper’s bottom line.

She said the newspaper probably will add employees in some departments once the severance program is completed.

“We’re getting where we need to be,” Schmitt said.

Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536 or tim.landis@sj-r.com.

Scott Bowers:

Age: 46.

Began his newspaper career in 1977 at the Racine Journal Times in Racine, Wis. Served as business manager of the Beloit Daily News in Beloit, Wis. for seven years.

Currently based at the Rockford Register Star, where he has held several positions in the finance department since 1990, including controller. Named group controller in May for GateHouse Media newspapers in Illinois.

Graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a licensed certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin. He and his wife, Kathleen Ostrander, live in Janesville, Wis., just across the state line from Rockford, but plan to relocate to Springfield. Ostrander also is a journalist who operates her own news service.

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